Hi Carol,
Thanks for the very reasonable question.
I have to admit, I've just taken the "general lore" at face value, based
on the assumption that if someone is really focused on a particular
branch of the bird world, chances are, they'll get it right.
Falconers pay very close attention to -- bing! you guessed it --
falcons.
But I don't think they're relying on mystical means, just things that
all of us might be able to pick up on, if we were equally focused.
Male Prairie Falcons are smaller than the female. Also, according to the
Audubon "Birds of North America" website:
"The smaller male can be distinguished from the female by its more rapid
wing-beats and shriller call."
(side note: Sorry not dust off a real book here, but I can't find the
one by Jonsgaard that I was looking for -- you should see the mess that
I call my office someday!)
So those are three things to watch/listen for: relative size, rapidity
of wingbeats, and shrillness of call. Well, I've never heard a Prairie
Falcon vocalize, this side of the Cascades, so maybe only two of these
are "actionable" criteria for wintering Prairie Falcons.
It would certainly be good if more birders could check this out. From my
perspective, I'm glad if I get looks at 5 or 6 Prairie Falcons on this
side of the mountains, in a given winter. But there are folks out there
who pay a *lot* more attention to wintering falcons, and I value their
observations on the species that they pay most attention to.
Happy birding,
Joel
On Thu, 2015-11-12 at 16:36 -0800, Carol wrote:
Regarding the posts on OBOL about no male Prairie Falcons wintering in the
Willamette Valley: I am curious to know how the falconer in eastern Oregon
would know that male Prairie Falcons winter away from the females. Have they
been tracked in some way? Has anyone done a study on this or know for a fact
that there are no male PRFA in the valley in winter? The fact that a
falconer in eastern Oregon has, for quite a few years, observed female
Prairie Falcons stealing food from the males, I understand. But how would
the falconer know if the males go elsewhere than the females for the winter?
If this is a presumption, I understand, but I would hate to see this bit of
falcon trivia stated as a fact without any substantial evidence.
My post is by no means meant to be hurtful in any way to any of our fine
birders. The posts regarding this phenomenon just really got me to thinking
about how this behavior was determined, hence the questions that popped into
my head as I pondered this.
Looking forward to some thought-provoking responses. Thanks!
Carol Hiler
N. Albany
_______________________________________________
birding mailing list
birding@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://midvalleybirding.org/mailman/listinfo/birding
